Relaxation Tips To Reduce Stress In Your Daily Life

Whew. Now is the time to give yourself a break from all the stress that you may have allowed yourself to have over this particularly long and brutal politically-tinged season, no matter the outcome.

You deserve it, and even better yet, it’s good for helping you re-set your internal clock much like you did over the weekend with the end of this year’s Daylight Savings Time.

According to WebMD, here are tips that can help relax and get you back on track:

Meditate
Sit up straight with both feet on the floor. Close your eyes. Focus your attention on reciting a positive mantra. Place one hand on your belly to sync the mantra with your breaths.

Breathe Deeply
Take a 5-minute break and focus on your breathing. Sit up straight, eyes closed, with a hand on your belly. Slowly inhale through your nose, feeling the breath start in your abdomen and work its way to the top of your head. Reverse the process as you exhale through your mouth.

Be Present
When you spend time in the moment and focus on your senses, you should feel less tense.

Reach Out
Your social network is one of your best tools for handling stress.

Tune In to Your Body
Mentally scan your body to get a sense of how stress affects it each day.

Decompress
Place a warm heat wrap around your neck and shoulders for 10 minutes.

Laugh Out Loud
A good belly laugh doesn’t just lighten the load mentally. It lowers cortisol, your body’s stress hormone, and boosts brain chemicals called endorphins, which help your mood.

Crank Up the Tunes
Research shows that listening to soothing music can lower blood pressure, heart rate, and anxiety.

Get Moving
You don’t have to run in order to get a runner’s high. All forms of exercise, including yoga and walking, can ease depression and anxiety by helping the brain release feel-good chemicals and by giving your body a chance to practice dealing with stress.

Be Grateful
Keep a gratitude journal or several (one by your bed, one in your purse, and one at work) to help you remember all the things that are good in your life.

Marriage is the melding of the best of both people’s pasts, with room for new ideas and traditions. Failure to respect the input of a spouse will create deep resentment and will undermine the marriage.